S'pore gets $46.5m lift for energy research
By Tania Tan
GREEN energy research in Singapore received a $46.5 million boost yesterday with the establishment of a new centre dedicated to making energy systems work better.
The money includes $8 million worth of grants for 10 projects, which will also focus on beefing up Singapore's energy infrastructure.
The Singapore Initiatives in New Energy Technologies (Sinergy) Centre will help take research from 'lab to life', said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan.
It will do this by transforming cutting-edge science into practical applications, for industries and households alike, he said,
Established by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, the centre will focus on developing alternative energy technologies such as solar, wind and fuel cells.
Slated for completion in 2009, the $38.5 million government- funded centre will be located at both the Fusionopolis and Jurong Island, giving scientists easy access to real-time information as they run their experiments.
Researchers will look at taking full advantage of Singapore's expertise in infocommunications technologies by creating intelligent energy management systems.
'This is a critical investment in Singapore's overall energy research and development efforts, which will transform the way we interact with energy,' said Mr Lee.
Marrying infocomms and energy is a relatively new area of research, which requires innovation in a wide range of areas, including energy storage and distribution.
Ten projects, which will complement research at the Sinergy Centre, will be awarded $8 million in grants over a three-year period, he said.
Mr Lee was speaking at the opening of the inaugural United Kingdom-Singapore Workshop on Energy Technology at the Biopolis.
Held under the auspices of the three-year-old UK-Singapore science partnership, the one-day workshop brings together 12 leading energy experts from both countries, who will share their findings in green energy research.
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